Pages

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Superman Returns!...again

Yesterday, the news broke that 300 and Watchmen director Zack Snyder has just gotten the gig to direct the next Superman movie!

Our story thus far: so, while Bryan Singer's Superman Returns didn't exactly tank at the box office, it was a super-mega-global-worldwide hit either. And lukewarm reviews from critics led Warner Brothers to think that they should maybe go in another direction. Meanwhile, across the hall, Christopher Nolan and his crew were kicking ass and taking names with their reboot of Batman. While sitting around, brainstorming ideas for the sequel to The Dark Knight, Batman Begins and Dark Knight co-writer David S. Goyer said, "Well, I'm still not sure what I want to do next with Batman, but here's what I always wanted to do with Superman...." After he heard his idea, Nolan said, "That...was...AWESOME! Let's pitch that idea to the bosses!" They went and pitched it to the bosses, and the bosses said, "That...was...AWESOME! It's the next Superman movie!" So, Christopher Nolan was signed on to the film in a "godfather" role, and Batman Begins and Dark Knight writers David S. Goyer and Jonathon Nolan got to work writing it.

But the big question was who was going to direct it. About a week ago, a short list was being circulated, saying that directors being considered included veteran action director Tony Scott (Top Gun, Crimson Tide), Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In), and, of course, Zack Snyder. And yesterday, Mr. Snyder got the job!

Yesterday, it was also announced that villain will be that evil Kryptonian, General Zod. This, I'm somewhat disappointed in. Thanks to the success of the Christopher Reeve films all those years ago, it seems like the only villains ever considered for a Superman film are Lex Luthor or General Zod. What, no Braniac? No Doomsday? Not even Metallo? Oh, well.

I'm very interested to see the take that the Batman crew has come up with for Superman. Many fear that they'll go the dark and gritty route, because that's worked very well with Batman. But, in the comics, they've tried to take Superman down a grim and gritty route a few times, and it just doesn't work with him.

No word yet on when this Superman reboot hits theatres. Zack Snyder's next film, Sucker Punch, hits theatres in March. Sucker Punch is Snyder's first original film...that is, it's 100% his own creation, not based on a comic book or anything.